{"id":3423,"date":"2024-02-05T12:57:38","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T12:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/05\/oklahoma-gov-stitt-faces-renewed-tribal-sovereignty-issue-as-legislative-session-begins\/"},"modified":"2024-02-05T12:57:38","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T12:57:38","slug":"oklahoma-gov-stitt-faces-renewed-tribal-sovereignty-issue-as-legislative-session-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/05\/oklahoma-gov-stitt-faces-renewed-tribal-sovereignty-issue-as-legislative-session-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma Gov. Stitt faces renewed tribal sovereignty issue as legislative session begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tribal sovereignty is expected to again be a top issue facing lawmakers and Gov. Kevin Stitt as they return on Monday to begin the 2024 legislative session<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stitt, a Republican<\/a> and himself a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, has had a contentious relationship with tribal leaders that began with a dispute during his first year in office over casino revenue and has worsened with conflict over agreements on tobacco sales, motor vehicle tags, taxes and criminal jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

The governor, now in his second term, has been a frequent critic of expanded tribal sovereignty and of the landmark 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision that determined state prosecutors lack criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes committed in Indian Country.<\/p>\n

GOOSE FOUND INSIDE OKLAHOMA MEDICAL HELICOPTER FOLLOWING CRASH THAT KILLED 3 CREW MEMBERS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In an interview with The Associated Press last week, Stitt said his role is to represent all 4 million Oklahomans and not allow tribal citizens to have an unfair advantage. He believes that could happen if the Oklahoma Supreme Court rules in favor of a Native American woman who claims she doesn’t have to pay state income taxes because she lives and works on a tribal reservation.<\/p>\n

“There’s no way I would be doing my job as governor if I said: \u2018Oh, African Americans pay taxes, white people and Asians (pay taxes), but American Indians don\u2019t,'” Stitt said. “It’s like I’m in a twilight zone having to explain this to people.”<\/p>\n

Stitt will deliver his State of the State address to the Legislature on Monday and release his proposed spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.<\/p>\n

Last year the Legislature convened in special session to override the governor’s veto of a bill to extend agreements on tribal tobacco sales and motor vehicle tags and the issue is expected to surface again in the session beginning Monday.<\/p>\n

WILD OKLAHOMA DASHCAM VIDEO SHOWS TROOPER THROWN FROM SIDE OF HIGHWAY CRASH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Many lawmakers<\/a> hope the relationship between the tribes and Stitt has thawed somewhat following a deal the governor reached last month with the Chickasaw Nation for a 10-year agreement.<\/p>\n

“I see it as a very good indication that the state and the tribes will be able to work together,” said Sen. Brent Howard, chairman of the Joint Committee on State-Tribal relations.<\/p>\n

Among the other issues lawmakers are expected to tackle is a possible income tax cut, a top priority for Stitt. The House approved a 0.25% reduction in the rate last week, but Senate leaders have said such a move is premature since final revenue numbers haven’t been released.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tribal sovereignty is expected to again be a top issue facing lawmakers and Gov. Kevin Stitt as they return on Monday to begin the 2024 legislative session. Stitt, a Republican and himself a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, has had a contentious relationship with tribal leaders that began with a dispute during his first year … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}